Smule, the Sonic Media company and guys behind the likes of Ocarina, Leaf Trombone: World Stage and the widely popular I Am T-Pain for iPhone, have today announced that they have received new funding from an outside investor. Shasta Ventures are a group of venture capitalists who say they're hell bent on providing great customer service, as well and helping 'exceptional' entrepreneurs create next-gen companies. Well, they've certainly lent their helping hand to Smule, pumping in a staggering $8 million dollars into the firm.
"Smule has emerged as the innovative brand in the consumer mobile market. Moreover, we were impressed with the financial performance of the company in ’09, in addition to the company’s vision for the future. The dynamics of this new market are unique, and Smule is extremely well positioned to be a dominant player in this market."
- Jason Pressman, Managing Director at Shasta Ventures
Smule says the investment wasn't planned, however after seeing the potential Shasta could bring to the firm, they were more than happy to partner with them. Jeff Smith, CEO and co-founder of Smule had this to say:
“Candidly we were not planning on raising capital at this stage of our business plan, yet as we got to know the partnership at Shasta, we found they had a similar perspective on the importance of innovation, and a robust understanding of the new consumer market realities. We are therefore excited to have them join us on our mission to redefine the mobile social experience.”
Smule’s Leaf Trombone: World Stage and I Am T-Pain iPhone applications were recently recognized by Apple as two of the top applications for 2009 in their 'Rewind' promotion, with T-Pain ranking 4th and Leaf Trombone ranking 9th overall - and according to Smule, to date I Am T-Pain users have created over twelve million recordings using the application. Ocarina on the other hand was released over thirteen months ago now and still remains a top seller.
